Advantage
by etoiledunord
Summary: HouseCameron. ”Tomorrow, you might not be able to live with yourself,” he breathed. ”But tomorrow’s not here yet, and, tonight, I want you to gasp harder than you ever thought you would.”


Hi, there. I was expecting to leave House alone for a while, but I was watching Spin on my new Season 2 DVDs, and this just kind of came to me. I figure that, if TBTP can twist Cameron's marriage backstory around so that there was an element of infidelity, then I could twist that element just a bit more for my own purposes. This is set at some indeterminate point in the future, probably about two years after the Season 2 finale.

This could be considered fluff. It could also be considered to contain mature bits, though it isn't all that graphic. On both counts, you have been warned.

_Advantage_

It was Friday evening and House was, to his annoyance, on his way to the hospital. After twenty minutes of searching, he'd been forced to admit that he'd left his Gameboy in his office, and he was therefore on his way to retrieve it.

There wasn't much noise in the hallway leading to the diagnostics department, which told House that his staff were sane and didn't want to stick around when they didn't have to. When he turned and opened the door to his office, however, he was greeted by the sight of Cameron standing in front of his desk, sorting through some papers.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked, somewhat incredulous.

With a catch in her breath, Cameron spun around and, seeing it was him, gave him an annoyed look. "Doing the work you won't," she replied.

"I knew I hired you for a reason," House quipped, walking around to the other side of his desk. "Now where did I… Aha!"

And he held up his Gameboy in triumph.

Cameron rolled her eyes in amusement. "I knew there were only a handful of things that could get you back into the office on a Friday night," she said.

"Well, even a mean grumpy guy like me needs some kind of company, and since I lost more money than I expected at poker last night and Wilson's off with his new little pigeon, I-"

"New?" Cameron cut in. "I thought he'd been with Tracy a few months now."

"Not Tracy," House said, slipping his Gameboy into his pocket. "Diane. There was a bar, there were some beers, and it was love at first sight. Or something."

"So Tracy…?"

"Declined Wilson's offer to go to the bar that night, and is now crying the consequences to her pillow," House explained, making a mock-sad face.

Cameron looked mildly offended. "You'd think that by now he'd have realized the effects his infidelity has on women," she said.

House moved back around towards the door. "Well, I'm sure that, late at night, he imagines all the ways he deserves to die for what he's done."

"But he doesn't," Cameron said, her face scrunched up in distaste. "He's told me that he's capable of living with himself, despite what he's done."

House paused, now interested. "You've had a heart-to-heart with him about his fidelity track record?" he asked. "What, were you feeling especially naive that day?"

Cameron shot House a glare that quickly faded into embarrassment. "No, I was feeling guilty," she said. "He'd gotten me thinking about my own faithfulness and I was hoping for some reaffirmation."

House was intrigued. "Are you telling me that you've cheated?" he asked with a small amused smile.

"No!" Cameron said. She sighed in apparent frustration. "I just…" she started. "I… I could have."

"But, of course, you didn't."

"I didn't."

House paused, waiting for more, and, when Cameron didn't say anything else, he inclined his head to show that he was waiting. "Well…?"

"Well, what?"

House smirked. "I'm waiting for you to tell me you tale of near infidelity."

Cameron crossed her arms. "It was my husband's best friend," she told him. "Towards the end, he I and spent a lot of time together, helping each other through it, and I… fell in love with him."

House was far from shocked by her story. "How pathetically saccharine," he said. "Even when you nearly cheated on your dying husband, to you it's all about love. And you still couldn't do it."

"I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

House rolled his eyes. "Yes, I can imagine how hard it would be to carry on with your life with a man you loved who _wasn't_ about to die."

"House…" Cameron said, half pleading, half warning.

House didn't let up, though. "But there's an interesting thought. What would be your version of not being able to live with yourself? The guilt would probably make you donate to orphanages and work unnecessary overtime. You'd bake lots of cookies for everyone."

"I wouldn't have been able to trust myself!" Cameron snapped.

House frowned in contemplation. "I think there's something you're leaving out," he declared.

"What!"

House took a step closer. "This wasn't just any situation where you could have slept with another man. You could have done that anytime. This was about you not wanting to be taken advantage of."

Cameron gaped at him. "Joe would not have been taking advantage of me."

"Of course he would have," House insisted. "The whole situation is full of people being taken advantage of. You would both have been taking advantage of the fact that your husband wouldn't know what you were doing in order to act on your emotions, you would have been taking advantage of Joe's grief-weakened state, and, most importantly, Joe would have been taking advantage of you in your even more vulnerable state. It would be too much about the comfort. To you, it isn't worth consummating love unless the love is the main focus of the consummation."

Cameron looked hurt. "You're a real bastard, you know-"

"Yeah, yeah," said House impatiently. "Look, I'll prove it to you: Have sex with me."

Cameron's eyes went wide. "What!" she yelled.

"Exactly!" House exclaimed. "You like me or love me or whatever, but you won't have sex with me when I'm perfectly willing."

"This is ridiculous," Cameron said. "I should go get Cuddy. That way you'd either get chewed out or laid, either of which should stop this."

She then turned to leave, but House grabbed her arm to hold her back.

"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to free her arm, but House was stronger and pulled her back, turning her around so that she stopped with her stomach flush against his.

House noticed Cameron's breath catch, and she stood still. He released her arm, but she didn't move away. Looking into her eyes, House rested his cane against his desk and placed his hands on Cameron's waist. He leaned his face in closer and felt a tightening in her abdomen.

"House," whispered Cameron.

House moved one hand to stroke Cameron's spine, bringing the other to the back of her neck. He was breathing deeply. Longing was staring to build inside of him. Not for the first time, House was profoundly aware of the curves of Cameron's body--the sway of her back, the shape of her lips, and now the feel of her against him to make it that much more intense. He savoured the sensation of her swelling against him with every breath.

"I want you," he said in a low growl. "And you love me. But you don't think this is a good idea."

"I…"

"You would be taking advantage of my lust to oblige your emotions, and I would be taking advantage of your love to satisfy my desire."

"This won't turn out well," Cameron said. Her arms were around his waist.

"And tomorrow you might not be able to live with yourself," House breathed as he traced his fingers over her back. "But tomorrow's not here yet, and, tonight, I want you to gasp harder than you ever thought you would."

The instant he saw her shift towards him, he moved in and kissed her. Catching her mouth with his, he tilted her head back and her lips parted freely for him. He tasted her deeply, trying to convey every ounce of the intensity of what he was feeling for her. As the kisses became more desperate, their breathing started to come in gulps. House broke off, kissing his way down to Cameron's neck, stopping there to nip and tease. She gasped loudly and House felt another jolt in her stomach.

Cameron's eyes were wide. "House," she panted. He kept going. "House," she said again, louder. "What…-" She tried to speak more, but was cut off by a gentle bite at her earlobe that caused her to grab onto House's shirt in heated shock. Exhaling, she let out a low moan.

It was then that House looked up. Without asking, he knew what she had been thinking. "My place is closer," he said. "My bike's just outside."

They left quickly.

---

It was dark and calm. Rain pattered gently against the window. House and Cameron lay in bed, having collapsed in a tangle earlier. They were now both close to sleep. House felt peaceful. Cameron was warm against him, and the smell of sweat and sex lingered pleasantly.

Cameron stirred. "House," she said.

"Mmm."

"I should-"

"Go to sleep."

Cameron paused. "I really should-"

"Go to sleep," he said again. He snaked a hand around her waist, keeping her in place.

"All right," said Cameron, relaxing against him. House closed his eyes.

---

House opened his eyes. The room was filled with soft light. A gray spring sky was on the other side of the curtains, and the world was damp. He looked at Cameron, who had rolled over during the night and was now laying on her side with her hair splayed out behind her. House thought she looked beautiful. He reached over and ran the back of his hand down her arm. Cameron murmured in her sleep and shifted her weight. Her eyes fluttered open.

She saw House.

"Oh, God!" she yelled, pulling herself away.

"Good morning to you, too," replied House.

Cameron sat up, pulling the blanket to cover herself, her outburst now contained, but looking uncertain. House sat up as well and leaned over, placing a kiss on her shoulder.

"So," he said, reaching to his night stand for painkillers. "Right about now is when you should start not being able to live with yourself." He popped a pill into his mouth. "Should I find you a child sponsorship infomercial?"

Cameron looked at him, then looked down at the blanket. She seemed to be thinking about something. After a moment, she spoke. "This isn't like what I thought it'd be like."

"Was I a disappointment?" asked House. "Because you didn't seem disappointed at the time."

The joke didn't seem to really register with Cameron, who still looked contemplative. "No, that's not what I'm talking about," she said.

"Oh, good, because I was about to have a crisis of masculinity," said House, smiling as he traced Cameron's collar bone with his finger.

"This wasn't what I expected loving sex to ever be like," Cameron stated. "I mean, I wasn't expecting this to be that. I thought that, at best, it would just be sex."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," interjected House.

Cameron looked up at him. "I wasn't expecting anything real from you."

"Again-"

"But it was there."

House stopped the motions of his hand. He wasn't sure whether or not it was a good idea to breathe.

"I didn't have any silly or idealistic expectations," Cameron explained. "You'd never follow them. It's what I thought I would have wanted, and I don't know what I expected to ever actually happen, but…-" Cameron broke off, shaking her head. She looked House in the eye. "Last night, you didn't just want me."

House stared at her. He remembered the events of the previous night--the long, sensuous kisses and his hands all over her body. He'd been enraptured.

He leaned forward, his face inches from hers. "Well," he whispered. "Everybody lies." And he kissed her again.


End file.
